The Blood Orcks
After the end of the Tarri-Dwarven war in 4,490 B.T, the tensions between the Dwarves and the Orck immigrants was rising, this ultimately led to several groups of Orcks leaving Darkenfell to search for a new home in 4,486. A band of Orck settlers, led by Orck Gromgar Facebludgeon who was raised by a Dwarf as his adoptive father, set out along the coast of Northern Nova, the band was attacked by several agressive tribes of the Siax, the Orcks also traded with the few Siax tribes, who were willing, in order to get clothing necessary to survive the harsh climate of the northern territories of Nara. The band also helped a particularly peaceful tribe of Siax by training them to fight their agressive enemy. After three months the Band moved again, continuing their journey up the coast of Nova until they reached Ruzia and settled there briefly. However, the Orck band faced too many challenges in the icey wasteland, half of their population died from hypothermia, and another fifth either died from foreign disease or were too weak to survive. Those who were strong enough to move helped any Orcks who were not sick, Gromgar had lost his only child and daughter, Kari "the Sear," he ordered all women and children to be brought to the ships first, however, he knew they could not save the sick, so he ordered any who were sick regardless of their age or gender to be left behind. The morale of the band plummeted, and as they set sail, one Orck above all voiced his concern the most, his name was Falorn Dwarf-Eater, Falorn was a xenophobic racist who caused much trouble during the journey, even leading a small band of Orcks to raid a peacful Siax village towards the southern regions of Nova. The band landed on the closest island located between Humaniua and Northern Orbis. Gromgar's people were few in numbers, even more so considering a majority of his band were women and children, they only had enough rationed food for one day, and Gromgar knew many would not last the night in the cold. Gromgar gathered the strongest men, and even a few women, to join him in seeking refuge on the hostile land of Humaniua, including Falorn, all of the small group were the elites of the band and even then, more than a dozen died to either the cold or the strange beasts inhabiting Humaniua, the scariest among them being the Kara'fong( Sharp tooth), this creature was around 6' tall but was stealthier than the smallest cat, it would often snatch unlucky Orcks at the back of the group, but it would not kill them right away, the Kara'fong survived by draining the warm blood from its victims slowly, it would often take hours for the beast to kill its terrified and suffering prey. Gromgar's band came across a curious black gate, a portol of Sargoth, once the band approached, an Avatar of Sargoth exitted the gate. The Avatar altered his appearance in expectation of his Orck visitors, he appeared as a large muscular Orck, his skin not grey nor white as normal Orcks but was a golden hue! His eyes burned red, and when the Orcks looked in his eyes, they saw the vengence and wrath of the Orck band. And so to did Falorn, however, he saw even more! He saw a singular Orck leading all others, he saw the Orcks massacring all other races, he saw kings, queens, nobles of all stature, bend the knee and forced into slavery, hauling the corpses of their pathetic race. And he saw the Orck who caused this stand at the top of a mound of skulls... The Avatar spoke highly of the Orcks, he proclaimed that the gods themselves had come to reward them for surviving this long using only their strength and superiority, he said they were to be rewarded! In exchange the Orcks must show their loyalty to the gods by doing one deed; Gromgar had rejected the Avatar and declared that his god was not theirs', he said the Avatar was a monster in guise of a glorious Orck hero!... And his words spoke profoundly to the confused and conflicted Orcks, at least, until his heart was removed from his chest... Falorn saw the truth, at least... the one the Avatar wanted him to see, he saw himself at the top of that mound of skulls, and as he removed Gromgar's heart from his back, he proclaimed that the only way forward is to dispose of weak blood, he said that those who would deny this truth must fall. The Orcks rallied at Falorn's side, and those who were sensible enough to remember Gromgar's words perished. After they returned, Falorn had told the people Gromgar had perished due to his weakness to the cold, though doubtful, the people accepted this false truth and listened to Falorn. Falorn brought the remainder of his band to the portal, as instructed by the Avatar, and those who could not keep up with the band were left to die in the cold and the monsters of Humaniua. Falorn stood at the black gate, he said they must face a trial before they would be deemed worthy to survive, worthy enough to serve gods, he said that those who returned with him had proven their worth, and those who died had failed. Men and boys alike stood trembling, many wondered if they heard their new leader accuratly, Falorn had said only the strongest of the males who had the courage to destroy the weak scourge the band had been cursed with on their journey. He said that all who have not been proven to be absent of this scourge must cull the scourge to be redeemed. And so, males of the Orck band, of all ages, stood in the recess of a giant frozen cliff, exit blocked by Falorn's band, the women were subdued to prevent the interuption of the trial. With no choices left, the males under trial began fighting with whatever was on them and with whatever they could find, among this massacre was a boy, feeble of body and only in his eleventh year of age, this boy would lead a revolt years later to free the Orcks, but that is a tale for another time. Out of the two-hundred and seventy-three Orcks who fought in the trial, only thirty-six survived to the end, thirteen, half of that number, along with sixty women, were sent with the Avatar through the portal, the Avatar told them they must have a trial every fifteen years, men and women over eleven years of age must and shall attend. After the Avatar left, a swarm of particles surrounded the Orck band, the screams echoed as the grey swarm imbedded inside them, and morphed their bodies; the Orcks who stayed behind grew a foot taller, their chests widened, and their facial features changed, their stump nose alongated slightly into a small maw, their ears moved towards the top of their heads and extended in to thin protrusions, their jaws thinned, their teeth pushed outwards and sharpened, they took on the appearance of a cross between Orck and Bat, the only thing that remained the same was the color of their skin and eyes. The ones who went into the portal, however, faced more severe changes, though similar, they too grew taller, but by three feet and not one, their chests widened even more, and formed massive pectorals, their skin color changed to a crimson red with grey lines tracing their blood vessals, and their eyes, pupil and all, turned a bright, fiery, red. The Orcks would settle most of Humaniua, they would split into various clans and gather at the portal to perform the ritual every fifteen years, giving half of the survivors to Sargoth and adorning the rest as champions, those who did not show promise in the trial were prejudiced against and were often forced to work as laborers or forced breeding partners. The Orcks took up the name of Blood Orcks, in honor of the ones chosen to serve Sargoth. The new clans would learn different skills in order to earn the approving eyes of Sargoth; one took up taming the mighty beasts, their greatest achievement being the taming of the Kara'fong; one clan, the only one to, learned how to make weapons and armor imbued with the same power that changed them, giving them superior strength; and the last mastered alchemy, making many deadly poisons and powerful medicines. This is the tale of the Blood Orcks, they would later on serve Sargoth as scouts to explore his new territory in the coming days, and little were left alive to know of their existance, those who did swore they were as demons on the battlefield. The tales of glorious battle, and of Halfgar Hellshank, rebel leader of the last Orcks, are stories for another time.